The Fourth Commandment!

by Guy C. LaMar

The fourth commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Jesus held church on the Sabbath day as did the apostles LONG AFTER Jesus had ascended into heaven.

The true Christian example is extremely clear.

First – to be a true Christian one must be a true follower of Jesus.

The apostle Paul said –

1 Corinthians 11:1 – “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”

Sunday church keeping over Sabbath-keeping was instituted by Satan the devil – through his largest organization – The Roman Catholic Church.

Jesus and the apostles kept the Sabbath.

Friends, church day is the Sabbath – which is Saturday.

NOT SUNDAY!!!!!

To be a TRUE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST one must OBEY the living word of God. 

Mark 2:2-27 – “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.’” 

Luke 4:16 – “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.”

Exodus 31:16-17 – “’ Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and ON THE SEVENTH DAY He rested and was refreshed.’” 

Exodus 31:13 – “’ Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I AM the LORD who sanctifies you.’” 

Acts 13:14 – “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.” 

Acts 16:13 – “And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.” 

Acts 17:2 – “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” 

Matthew 12:1-14 – “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’ But He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’ Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ — that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.”

Luke 13:10-16 – “Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, ‘Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.’ And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.’ The Lord then answered him and said, ‘Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound — think of it — for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?’” 

Ezekiel 20:18-21 – “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I AM the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I AM the LORD your God.’ ‘Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.’” 

Matthew 5:17-19 – “’ Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’”

John 7:22-23 – “’ Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?’” 

Acts 13:42-44 – “So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.’” 

Acts 18:4 – “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.” 

1 John 2:4-6 – “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 

1 John 5:3 – “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” 

Deuteronomy 4:2 – “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” 

Ezekiel 20:12-13 – “’ Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I AM the LORD who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.’” 

Ezekiel 20:24 – “’ because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.’”

Mark 3:2-4 – “So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Step forward.’ Then He said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent.” 

Luke 6:1 – “Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.” 

Luke 6:5 – “And He said to them, ‘The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.’” 

Luke 23:56 – “Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.” 

2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 

Hebrews 4:1-2 – “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” 

Hebrews 8:10 – “’ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. … I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” 

1 John 3:4 – “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

God rested from His labors on THE SEVENTH DAY – cf. Genesis 2:2.

God blessed THE SEVENTH DAY and sanctified it – creating the SEVENTH DAY – cf. Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:11.

The Sabbath was made for man – that is – for all mankind – cf. Mark 2:27.

God blessed THE SEVENTH DAY and named it the Sabbath – cf. Exodus 20:10-11.

God not only blessed THE SEVENTH DAY, but He also sanctified it – that is, made it HOLY by His presence and declaration – cf. Genesis 2:3.

There is no record in all the Scriptures that God ever removed His blessing from THE SABBATH and placed it upon another day of the week.

God's people kept the Sabbath before the Ten Commandments were given at Mount Sinai – cf. Exodus 16:22-26.

God ordained that man should keep the Sabbath – cf. Exodus 20; Hebrews 4:3-9.

God forbade work on the Sabbath even in harvest time – cf. Exodus 34:21.

God promised the Gentiles – non-Israelite nations – a blessing if they kept the Sabbath – cf. Isaiah 56:2.

God promised to bless anyone who keeps the Sabbath – cf. Isaiah 56:2.

There is nowhere in the Bible a command to observe any other day of the week as ‘holy,’ as a substitute or a replacement for THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH.

God calls the Sabbath His ‘holy day’ – cf. Exodus 20:10; Leviticus 23:2-3; Isaiah 58:13; Mark 2:28.

The keeping of the Sabbaths – weekly and annually – is a sign between God and His people – cf. Exodus 31:12-17.

The observance of the Sabbath shows our love and obedience towards God – cf. Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Matthew 22:37-40.

Jesus Christ kept and observed the Sabbath as a habit – which expressed His love and obedience toward God the Father – cf. Luke 4:16.

Jesus Christ is ‘Lord of the Sabbath;’ thus, the Sabbath is the true Lord’s Day – cf. Mark 2:28; Isaiah 58:13; Matthew 12:8.

Jesus Christ recognized the Sabbath commandment as binding – cf. Matthew 5:17-18; 12:12; Mark 3:4.

Jesus Christ kept His Father’s commandments – which included THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH – cf. John 5:46-47; 8:29; 15:10.

The Sabbath was being observed at the time of the crucifixion – cf. Luke 23:56.

The observance of the Sabbath was practiced years after the crucifixion – cf. Acts 17:2.

The apostle Paul recognized and observed the Sabbath during his ministry – cf. Acts 13:27.

The apostle Paul taught the Gentiles on the Sabbath day – at their request – cf. Acts 13:42.

The apostle Paul preached to an entire city on the Sabbath day – cf. Acts 13:44.

The apostle Paul attended a prayer meeting on the Sabbath day – when no synagogue was available – cf. Acts 16:13.

It was the apostle Paul’s custom to preach Jesus Christ on the Sabbath day – cf. Acts 17:2-3.

At Corinth, the apostle Paul preached every Sabbath for eighteen months – cf. Acts 18:1-4, 11.

The apostle James (a brother to our Lord Jesus Christ) recognized the Sabbath many years after Jesus Christ’s resurrection – cf. Acts 15:21.

THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH will be observed during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ – cf. Isaiah 66:23. 

The apostle Paul made it crystal clear that the day of rest – THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH – was to be observed as a holy day – cf. Hebrews 4:4.

The Sabbath day was never changed by Jesus Christ or the apostles to the first day of the week – Sunday. Neither was it changed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ was resurrected at “THE END OF THE SABBATH,” and not on Sunday – cf. Matthew 28:1-6.

As part of our Christian requirements to receive eternal life, we must keep all of God’s holy and relevant TEN COMMANDMENTS – cf. Matthew 19:17; Revelation 22:14.

THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH remains as the day of rest for God’s people – cf. Hebrews 4:9.

Jesus WARNED that in the end-time – as the great tribulation was beginning – we should not flee on the Sabbath – cf. Matthew 24:20.

The sign of God’s people in the end-time is that they would be keeping the commandments of God – Revelation 12:17; 14:12.

Sunday - the day of the Sun, derived from Hellenistic astrology – is the first day of the week and is almost universally observed by “professing Christians” today.

Yet, the Bible teaches that the only day that is holy to God is THE SEVENTH-DAY OF THE WEEK – called Saturday – the Sabbath day in the living word of God.

The Gregorian calendar – modified from the Julian calendar, a solar calendar proposed by Julius Caesar AUC 708 – which is used in most of the world shows that THE SEVENTH-DAY OF THE WEEK is Saturday.

In Europe, their calendars have been changed to show Sunday as the seventh day of the week.

In spite of that change, the true biblical Sabbath of God – which is holy to Him – is still Saturday.

God’s living word clearly commands – “REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY. SIX DAYS SHALL YOU LABOR AND DO ALL YOUR WORK: BUT, THE SEVENTH-DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD YOUR GOD” – Exodus 20:8-11.

Friends, if anyone believes that Sunday worship is Christian and that God’s inspired living word teaches Sunday-keeping – then I implore you to search the Scriptures.

You will find that there is NOT …

• One text that says that the Sabbath was ever changed from the seventh to the first day of the week.
• One text where the first day of the week is ever called a holy day.
• One text where we are told to keep the first day of the week.
• One text that says that Jesus ever kept the first day.
• One text where the first day is ever given a sacred title.
• One text that tells us to keep the first day in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• One text that affirms that any of the apostles ever kept the first day as the Sabbath.
• One text from any apostolic writings that authorizes Sunday observance as the Sabbath of God.
• One text where it says it was customary for the Church of God to observe or meet on, the first day of the week – not counting Pentecost.
• One text where we are told not to work on the first day of the week.
• One text where any blessings are promised for observing Sunday.
• One text where any punishment is threatened for working on Sunday.
• One text that says the seventh day is not now God's Sabbath day.
• One text where the apostles ever taught their converts to keep the first day of the week as a Sabbath.
• One text that says the seventh-day Sabbath is abolished.
• One text where the first day is ever called the Lord's Day.
• One text where the first day was ever appointed to be kept as the Lord's Day.
• One text that says that the Father or the Son ever rested on the first day of the week.
• One text that says that the first day of the week was ever sanctified and hallowed as a day of rest.
• One text that says that Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul or any of the apostles taught anyone to observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath.
• One text that calls the seventh day the “Jewish Sabbath,” or one text that calls Sunday the “Christian Sabbath.”
• One text authorizing anyone to abrogate, abolish or set aside God's Holy Sabbath and observe any other day.

So friends, if ANYONE is keeping Sunday over the holy Sabbath then they are not following Jesus Christ.

They are blindly following Satan the devil. □

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